Giving even when you do not feel like it

“When in need of refreshment,

it isn’t easy to think of the needs of others……instead of

praying for my own comfort and satisfaction,

I ask the Lord to enable me to give to others,

an amazing thing happens –

I find my own needs wonderfully met” – Elisabeth Elliot.

I have learnt (still learning) how to give through the lives of my own family members. My parents named our home “Ephphatha”, which means “be opened”, and live up to the name. With love and warmth, my parents always have food to serve (sometimes its a miracle how we have enough to feed everyone), lots of smiles and never let anyone feel unwelcome. My sisters and some of my family members have also been that example to me. Their giving is contagious and I love that! :) I read the statement above by Elisabeth Elliot in one of my devotions and realised how true it is even in my own life. When I take the focus off me and on blessing someone else, I find my own needs met. Psalms 28:27 says, “He who gives to the poor will not lack, But he who hides his eyes will have many curses”. If you are one who does not know how to bless, you will find that you are an unsatisfied person. But as soon as you go against your own fears and sin nature and begin to give, you break strongholds in your life. Sometimes giving first begins with trusting God, by obeying His Word, that ‘you will reap what you sow’, ‘what you give will be given back to you’, etc. and then He does something in your heart causing strongholds over your heart to break. Strongholds such as love of money, fear of the future, inability to trust God, etc.

In todays world, we find that the media, therapists, self-help books, etc. tell us to focus on ourselves. It says “do everything to help yourself cause no one else will do it”. Yes, it is important to improve oneself but the focus should never be you. We cannot save ourselves….only pride believes that we can save ourselves. As a person that has accepted Jesus, we have received the freedom and liberty through the death and ressurection of Jesus…..He did something for us that we could not do for ourselves. He saved us. Christianity is based on love. Through the love we have received, we are able to give. Sometimes, bearing the burden of our friend frees us from things that hold us down in our own lives. By giving with sincerity, God promises blessings.